Bhubaneswar, April 30: The city, along with Rourkela, has emerged among the winners in the nationwide Swachh Survekshan-II, the result of which will be made official on May 4.

The Union ministry of urban development has informed that the city is among the winners of the national level sanitation challenge. It had then received the award of east zone mover of the country for maintaining cleanliness. However, in the first-ever survey conducted in 2014, the city was ranked at 331 among 476 other competing cities of the country.

"We are steadily improving in the cleanliness parameters. We were at the bottom in the first survey, but rose to a good rank in the next one. The survey this time was the biggest with 500 cities and we are happy that the Centre lauded our efforts for keeping the city clean. They haven't declared the actual position yet, but we are hopeful to get a good rank this time," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

The civic body had taken a number of initiatives to give a fair performance in the Swachh Survekshan-II this time keeping in view its larger competitive scenario.

It had increased the number of waste bins to almost double, began two times sweeping of major stretches, involved communities and youths in the survey and expedited the construction of public and community toilets in the city. "It is true that the city is improving on cleanliness parameters, but focusing only on the heart of the city is not fair. There are still many outskirts and interior parts of the city that are in dire need of attention when it comes to maintaining cleanliness. I hope that the civic body will shift its focus and do the activities in other parts of the city too," said Saheed Nagar resident Fatima Begum.